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211 comments on DrumBeat: November 24, 2006

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AlanfromBigEasy on November 25, 2006 - 12:38am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
RUF is "gadgetbahn".

New tecnology simply takes time to work out the "bugs" in the details.  And only then can one make a valid comparision with the alternatives.

RUF does not strike me a very good idea at all from a technology/engineering POV.  I think the attraction for others is a "have your cake & eat it too appeal".  Your personal car in "electric train mode".

Another poster is very "up" on the concept of wind turbines floating and not anchored to the seabed offshore.  At first glance "nice" but I see a host of potential problems.

He proposes masses of these offshore Florida for example (good winds there) that can move aside for hurricanes.  I see side loadings and leverage issues that will be difficult to engineer around economically (they cartainly can be made stable but at what price ?)

So experiment, get a half dozen years experience, and I will consider that it MIGHT be practical.

In the case of RUF, I see it as a distraction from viable, workable solutions.

Few people realise how rich is the operating experience of 175+ years of railroad experience.  SO many problems have been resolved.  Thus my preference in the few years we have left prePO (if we are not post-PO today).

Best Hopes,

Alan

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ThatsItImout on November 25, 2006 - 5:49am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Alan,
Thanks for the feedback..., I think you are exactly right on your remark,
 I think the attraction for others is a "have your cake & eat it too appeal".  Your personal car in "electric train mode".

I have to admit, that was the first and overwhelming appeal to me.  I absolutely love trains, electric ones all the better...and the older generation certainly proved "tried and true".  

My central problem is that when I look at my local area, it is so scattered out that trying to get rider density up would be almost impossible unless we tore down and restructed the communties almost completely.  Some fellow fanciers of the "efficient transportation" idea have drawn out map after map, but to no avail...the cities and towns would have to be "recentered" or the area would have to be literally buried in train track...either way, for central KY, the expense would be astronomical, or people would have to be expected to walk long distances...I still like the idea of the old fashioned train type system, ala east coast commuter, with electric station cars to the neighborhoods...:-)
It makes a fun hobby just trying to figure it out....:-)

Roger Conner  known to you as ThatsItImout

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211 comments on DrumBeat: November 24, 2006

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